The present invention relates generally to improvements in the creation, storage and utilization of various types of transaction data including business, travel expense data, retail customer receipt data, and the like. In particular, the invention relates to advantageous methods and apparatus for processing various transactions, incorporating merchant authentication or signature data into certain individual transactions, storing these transactions securely on removable media and allowing access to the transactions by various entities including retail customers and retail merchants.
The processing of most retail transactions is accomplished utilizing some type of computerized system. A typical retail transaction in a store, hotel, restaurant or at an airline counter involves a Point-of-Sale (POS) system comprised of one or more POS terminals, a POS system controller and other related devices. At the completion of the typical transaction, the customer tenders payment and receives some type of transaction confirmation, such as a paper receipt.
A typical consumer will purchase goods and services from numerous merchants throughout a given period of time. The transaction processes for all of these purchases are quite similar although the nature of the merchant and the purchase may vary considerably. One feature common to these different transactions is the need for the consumer to retain their paper receipts for any returns they may wish to make later. The procedure for processing returns varies among retailers. Some retailers still rely upon the authenticity of the paper receipt alone, but most retain the transaction data electronically for some period of time. This transaction data is typically transmitted to a remote database at a company""s headquarters overnight, although some retailers utilize a trickle transmit system to send the data in near real-time. The data may be retained in the store where it originated for a period of months, and indefinitely at the central database. When a customer presents an item for return to the store of original purchase, the retailer will typically attempt to verify the validity of the receipt by finding the transaction on the POS system. If this procedure fails, the system will look for the transaction data in the central database. If both systems are unavailable, the retailer may accept the paper receipt as long as the receipt appears to be valid (i.e. proper paper stock, proper format, etc.), alternately issue a merchandise credit, or deny the return outright. This process can be time consuming for both the retailer and the consumer. The retailer may be exposed to fraud when the POS transaction data is unavailable or corrupted, and the return process can result in customer dissatisfaction. Customers are burdened with the need to retain paper receipts in good condition until they are sure that they will not return purchases. The problem to be solved, therefore, is to eliminate the need for paper receipts by providing a secure means of storing and accessing the transaction data for both the retailer and the customer.
A related problem exists for the consumer that wants to keep track of his or her expenses utilizing a personal computer and an appropriate personal finance application program. A typical program requires the consumer to periodically enter data manually into the personal computer to ensure that the expenses are properly recorded and categorized. Unfortunately, the information provided by a paper receipt is often inadequate for properly entering this information. Depending on the merchant, the printed receipt may use highly abbreviated descriptions due to the constraints of the paper stock and receipt printer. Also, the problem is compounded when a consumer shops in a multiple-format store. For example, a single physical store location may sell groceries as well as hardgoods and clothing. This requires the consumer to understand the printed description well enough to know which category an individual purchase item should be assigned to. The problem to be solved therefore, is to be able to minimize the amount of manual data entry and interpretation required to efficiently use a personal finance program.
A related problem involves the processing steps required to track business travel expenses, and the steps required to submit travel expense accounts to an employer. For example, in the course of even a brief trip, a business traveler may pay for an airline ticket at a ticket counter, a magazine at a kiosk, a rental car at a rental counter, a meal in a restaurant and check into a hotel for overnight lodging. At the end of the trip, the traveler may have accumulated a significant number of paper receipts in various formats. These receipts must then be submitted to the company""s expense accounting department for reimbursement of those expenses that are valid business expenses. The traveler usually bears the burden of keeping track of those receipts during the trip. He must then sort and copy those receipts related to business expenses, and then submit them with an expense account form for reimbursement. The expense accounting department must then review the expense account form and the receipts for accuracy before processing the traveler""s reimbursement. This largely manual process is tedious and time consuming for both the traveler and the expense accounting department. The problem to be solved, therefore, is to provide a means of automating this manual process and to increase the accuracy of the resulting reimbursement.
There exists, then, a need in a wide variety of contexts for a system that allows for the creation and storage of secure transaction data. Such a system should allow individuals to consolidate transaction data from various sources into a single portable, secure medium. The system should also allow merchants to create the transaction records they desire, and to store such records by a secure means. The portable medium needs to be able to accept data from various merchants with some means of authentication, while providing the media holder with an acceptable data security.
A transaction data system according to one aspect of the present invention preferably includes a mechanism for a merchant to write transaction data to a portable medium such as a magnetic stripe or a smart card. The transaction data includes information that describes the purchased goods and services as well as information that identifies the merchant and the consumer. The sum of these elements comprises a complete record of an individual retail transaction. The transaction data is preferably authenticated by including a unique signature for each complete transaction sequence. The signature is generated by encrypting the various elements of transaction data from an individual retail transaction. The resulting record of the transaction data is also written to the merchant""s POS system or other transaction system. The portable medium is carried by the consumer and can be read by a suitable device attached to a merchant""s POS system, as well as a similar device attached to a personal computer. The holder of the medium may secure the stored data to prevent unauthorized users from reading such data by assigning password protection to all data stored on the medium, or to individual transactions.
The following Detailed Description and accompanying drawings will provide a more complete understanding of the present invention as well as describing further features and advantages of the invention.